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Canada’s new final food safety regulations mirror FSMA

TAG's Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Cameron Prince, was recently interviewed by Food Chemical News. As a former Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) official, Cameron provided insights on this new act and its correlations with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

[ June 2018 - Article Excerpt] The sweeping new Canadian food safety law “really is, in many ways, very similar to FSMA, so that’s the starting point,” said Cameron Prince, a senior food safety director for The Acheson Group (TAG), who led the modernization initiative in Canada under the SFCA as the former CFIA vice president of operations. “There are some differences, but they’re relatively minor,” he noted.

Preventive controls, much like under FSMA, are a center piece of the new Canadian food safety regulations, Prince told IEG Policy. Canada always had a strong Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)-based system, which was mandatory in a number of commodities, “so this is just the next evolution to bring preventive controls across all foods,” he said.

The new regulations mean that preventive controls are now throughout the food industry in Canada in a mandatory way, for both manufacturers and importers, “so it’s very similar to FSMA in that regard,” Prince noted.

One difference, however, is that under FSMA companies must have a preventive controls qualified individual (PCQI) and there’s no similar provision under the Canadian regulations, he noted. But “you can say it’s equivalent because qualified individuals have to deliver these programs in Canada, it’s just that there isn’t a training program that’s been set up for PCQI by FDA, so it’s a minor difference.”

Key discussion topics also included the new act's mandatory licensing and traceability requirements plus proposed regulation changes. To read the full article written by Ingrid Mezo with Food Chemical News, please visit:

Led by Former FDA Associate Commissioner Dr. David Acheson, TAG is a food safety consulting group that provides guidance and expertise worldwide for companies throughout the food supply chain. With in-depth industry knowledge combined with real-world experience, TAG's team of food safety experts help companies more effectively mitigate risk, improve operational efficiencies, and ensure regulatory and standards compliance. Learn more at: www.AchesonGroup.com